Planning & compliance
Here's the quiet revolution: since May 2025, air-to-air heat pumps like ours have permitted development rights in England — so most Coole & Frost installations need no planning application at all. We handle the conditions that keep it that way, and every other piece of paperwork besides.
The condition that decides it is one most people never hear: a unit used solely for cooling is excluded from those rights and always needs an application. Ours heat as well as cool, so they qualify. Conventional air conditioning does not.
What we handle
Because our systems are air-to-air heat pumps, they fall under Class G permitted development (England, amended May 2025): one outdoor unit, below roof height, under 1.5m³ on a house or 0.6m³ on a flat — ours are a fraction of either — with a passed MCS 020(a) noise assessment. We run that assessment for every install. Detached houses may take a second unit under the same rights. Conservation areas keep extra rules, and we handle those too. Listed buildings, scheduled monuments and any address under an Article 4 direction always need a full application — we make that clear at the design visit rather than at the end of it.
The MCS 020(a) noise assessment — calculated at your neighbour's nearest window — is the condition that decides permitted development. We model it before installation, then pass it with room to spare: one compact condenser, night mode, anti-vibration mounts and acoustic screening where it helps.
Refrigerant work in the UK is legally restricted to F-Gas certified engineers — it's the licence that separates professionals from a van and a ladder. Every Coole & Frost engineer holds it, and our company registration paperwork travels with every job.
We specify modern R32 systems as standard — roughly a third of the global-warming potential of the refrigerant it replaces, in smaller charges, with leak-testing built into every service. Emissions compliance isn't a checkbox; it's the spec.
Electrical connections certified under Part P, penetrations fire-stopped, condensate draining effortlessly away, and system efficiency documented for Part L. You receive the full compliance pack at handover — invaluable when you come to sell.
Planning decision notices, commissioning certificates, refrigerant records, warranties, electrical certs — organised into one handover file, digital and printed. Your solicitor will love us one day.
Guidance above is general; every property is assessed individually at your design visit. Planning and consent vary by borough, property and heating system.
Why it matters
An unconsented condenser can hold up a sale. A noisy unit can draw a council abatement notice. Uncertified refrigerant work voids the manufacturer's warranty entirely. The industry doesn't talk about this — we'd rather you heard it from us before you get three quotes.
Ask us the awkward compliance questions — they're our favourite kind.